Surely if someone asks you what Instagram suggests you answer some or all of these answers: perfect photographs, scenes taken care of in detail, beauty, perfection, retouched images… or directly I pose, because, honestly, it is impossible that everything that is shown in this social network is totally true. Well, there is an app that is just the opposite of Instagram and it’s called BeReal.
BeReal is sweeping and that was created in 2020 and during this time it has passed without pain or glory. Today on Google Play it accumulates more than 5 million downloads and the App Store places it at number 1 on social networks. But what is new about this social network to succeed in this way? The key is to teach its users as they are, living real and authentic lives, avoiding posturing.
To ensure that the photos shown in the app are actually real, BeReal notifies you once a day to post a photo . You only have two minutes to make it and upload it and the warning time is not always the same. In addition, when you take a photo with the rear camera, the app automatically takes a selfie of you, to show exactly how you are at that moment. We insist, you can only upload one photo per day, which will be when the app tells you to.
The new social network does not allow you to choose photos from the mobile gallery and there are no editing options or adding filters. You will have to press the button and show just what you have in front of you, without cheating or cardboard.
The moment you upload the photo, it will be when you can see those of your friends, who will have received the notice at the same time as you if they are in your same time zone. If you don’t upload your photo, you won’t be able to see other people’s photos . If you take more than 24 hours to upload your snapshot, the content of the others will be deleted. The app is not just for onlookers, but requires the interaction of all users.
The app uses, therefore, the randomness in the hours of publication and the maximum time of two minutes so that you do not have time to get ready or to prepare the stage , come on, it will be pure coincidence if you receive the notice to publish your BeReal in the middle of a dinner at a cute restaurant.
BeReal also gives an option to publish after the announcement. This is a late BeReal , that is, the app’s warning could have caught you driving, showering or talking on the phone and you couldn’t take the photo. In these cases, the app also gives you two minutes to press the button and upload the photo to the platform, although it will indicate that the BeReal is late. This function, however, could go against the authenticity that the app precisely seeks, since it would give you time to prepare or choose an Instagrammable scene.
The photos you share on BeReal will be shown to all users of the app and if you see someone uploading photos you like, you can ask them for friendship or publicly write a reaction. BeReal doesn’t let you send private messages, not even to contacts.
At the moment, BeReal is sweeping and it is even said that Instagram is thinking about how to incorporate the idea into its app. We’ll see how it all turns out.
